It seems that in the world of Ventriloquism if you want a figure and order it from any one of a number of makers you are going to have to wait to receive your new buddy. What I would like to ask is what is a “reasonable” amount of time that you should have to wait.
Of course I must make mention that since I work out of the court system the word reasonable is the most litigious word. What may be reasonable for one is not for another.
The first thing I don’t understand is how it can take upwards of 2 years to get what is labeled a stock figure from some makers. There are a couple of makers that I guess I have to call top makers that if you order a figure, give a deposit, and are told 8 to ten weeks, would not the fact that you gave the deposit mean it is a contract and they must deliver in the allotted time? I know this is not the case in our ventriloquial world. This type of contract exists everywhere else.
I feel a maker should never give a time frame if they know in advance that this is not a true statement and can’t deliver, and they should be legally liable if they don’t deliver. It does seem that these builders consider themselves as artist prima donnas and therefore time does not matter, but for the buyer it is very frustrating when you give that hard earned money and then the contact stops no emails or phone call returns. I don’t know of any other profession that gets away with this kind of action.
This has made the fact that the only way to REALLY purchase is on the secondary market. If you see a figure you like on Ventriloquist Marketplace or elsewhere I suggest jumping on it because ordering a new partner will only cause pain and frustration.
Dan
www.ventriloquistcentral.com
***************************************************
Dan Willinger is a ventriloquism enthusiast and ventriloquist figure collector. He has been collecting for over 25 years. He created the Ventriloquist Central Collection. It now has over 100 ventriloquist figures and over 50 of them are Frank Marshall figures. Because of his love for the art of ventriloquism, Mr. Willinger created the website Ventriloquist Central. For more information about the website, go to: http://www.ventriloquistcentral.com
Copyright 2010 by Dan Willinger
NOTE: You may use this blog article provided you run it with the bio box intact. Please email a copy of your publication with the blog article in it to: webmaster@ventriloquistcentral.com
